Listen to students’ demands

Dear Sen. Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa,

Let me get straight to the point — please stop using your position as chairman of the Senate committee on public order and dangerous drugs for the witch-hunting of students who willingly chose to become activists.

Oh, for heaven’s sake, why would Anakbayan, or any youth-student organization for that matter, kidnap its own members? Besides, haven’t the two allegedly missing activists already denied that they were kidnapped or are being held against their will?

Whether you admit it or not, we all know that your real motive for conducting the Senate inquiry, which is reminiscent of the McCarthy hearings in the 1950s, is for your own political gain — to harass and silence the critics of President Duterte to whom you owe your loyalty.

But you cannot suppress youth activism or prevent them from joining any organization they want by spreading communist fear all over again, even with the passage of the Campus Security Act or the revival of the Anti-Subversion Act. On the contrary, you are pushing them further to become rebellious with your fascist schemes.

Instead of harassing activists, why don’t you try to listen to their demands — legitimate demands like upholding the country’s sovereignty, genuine agrarian reform, better wages, adequate social services and respect for human rights?

And if you really are into “protecting the basic unit of our society,” then why have you allowed thousands of poor Filipinos to get killed via “Oplan Tokhang”? Or do you have the slightest idea how the neoliberal policies of the administration have been forcing our countrymen to work abroad and be separated from their families out of poverty and desperation? Please stop acting as if you care about the Filipino family, because you don’t.

Lastly, not all parents see formal education the way you do. As a father myself, I want my children to develop critical thinking in school, as opposed to credulity and blind acceptance of authority. Just because young people reject your reactionary political views doesn’t mean they have been brainwashed by the Left.

DANIEL ALOC
[email protected]